A New CanonBy Iquo B. Essien, The AFRican Blogger

A New CanonBy Iquo B. Essien, The AFRican Blogger

Published on Fri, Sep 07 2007 by Iquo Essien

August Wilson (1945-2006)

The funny thing about my last blog is, the very next day, my film school writing professor waxed poetic on the genius of Shakespeare. I, of course, sat in the back of the room smirking the entire time. Then last night in aesthetics class the prof extolled the virtues of D.W. Griffith who, despite his artistic abilities, was flatly racist. (At least we didn't have to watch "Birth of a Nation.")

I'm lucky that I have a good head on my shoulders or I would be easily swayed by these platitudes. In honor of my ousting of Shakespeare and other traditions from my mental canon, I propose a new one:

Achebe Things Fall ApartAdichie Purple HibiscusAli InfidelAngelou I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsBaldwin Notes of a Native SonBeah A Long Way GoneBell Gospel ChoirsCafalli-Sforza Genes, Peoples and LanguagesDangarembga Nervous ConditionsDe Beauvoir The Second SexDuBois Souls of Black FolkEllison Invisible ManFanon Black Skin White MasksFanon The Wretched of the EarthGiddings When and Where I EnterGuy-Sheftall Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist ThoughtHanh Being PeaceHochschild King Leopold's Ghosthooks Sisters of the Yamhooks Black Looks: Race and RepresentationHurston Their Eyes Were Watching GodJacobs, Equiano, Douglas The Classic Slave NarrativesJames The Black JacobinsMalcolm X The Autobiography of Malcolm XMarquez One Hundred Years of SolitudeMarx The Communist ManifestoMilton Paradise LostMorrison The Bluest EyeNgugi Weep Not, ChildOkri The Famished RoadPlath The Bell JarSapphire PushSaramago BlindnessSembene God's Bits of WoodSoyinka AkeThurman Jesus and the DisinheritedWalker The Colored PurpleWilliams The Destruction of Black CivilizationWilson The Piano Lesson

I have exposed my ideology, said too much, perhaps forgotten some. Traded Dostoevsky for Ellison. Shakespeare for Wilson. Could I live without Hemingway? I think so. It would be an entirely different world in my head -- perhaps a better one.